New integration brings LiDAR mapping and radiation detection collectively throughout air and floor platforms
Teledyne FLIR Protection has expanded its Third-Social gathering Payload Integration Program with the addition of Emesent’s Hovermap LiDAR payload. Introduced at Trendy Day Marine 2026, the certification permits the Hovermap system to function throughout Teledyne FLIR’s unmanned aerial programs (UAS), floor robots, and radiation detection platforms.
The mixing focuses on a standard operational problem: environments the place GPS indicators are unavailable or unreliable. These situations usually happen in tunnels, dense city areas, and dangerous CBRN (chemical, organic, radiological, and nuclear) environments. By combining LiDAR-based mapping with current platforms, the businesses goal to enhance situational consciousness with out counting on exterior infrastructure.
Addressing GPS-Denied Environments
Emesent’s Hovermap makes use of LiDAR-based Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) know-how to generate correct 3D maps with out GPS. This functionality permits operators to navigate and map complicated environments in actual time.
The system is now suitable with a number of Teledyne FLIR platforms. On the SkyRanger® R70 and R80D SkyRaider® drones, Hovermap allows aerial mapping in GPS-denied situations. When mounted on the SUGV™ 325 floor robotic, it supplies steady 3D consciousness in enclosed or obstructed areas.
The mixing additionally extends to radiation detection. When paired with the MUVE™ R430 payload on the SUGV platform, Hovermap permits operators to visualise radiation ranges inside a mapped atmosphere. This creates a mixed spatial and hazard image for CBRN groups working within the subject.
“Figuring out the form of an area is highly effective. Figuring out the place the radiation is inside that area, in actual time, with out placing an individual in hurt’s approach, is an operational game-changer,” stated Stefan Hrabar, co-founder and chief technique officer at Emesent. “Our partnership with Teledyne FLIR Protection brings collectively GPS-denied mapping and radiation detection in a approach that straight addresses what CBRN operators want within the subject.”
Increasing Multi-Sensor Capabilities
Teledyne FLIR says the mixing displays a broader shift towards combining a number of sensing applied sciences right into a single operational view. The corporate’s open-architecture strategy permits third-party payloads to be licensed for compatibility throughout its platforms.
“Teledyne FLIR builds platforms trusted for essentially the most demanding CBRN missions on the planet,” stated Tung Ng, vp of Unmanned Programs North America for Teledyne FLIR Protection. “Working with Emesent, we’ll be capable of give operators a fused, spatial image of the menace atmosphere they merely haven’t had entry to earlier than.
“That is the path the entire subject is heading in, and we’re delivering it now by licensed third-party payloads like Hovermap,” Ng added.
Licensed payloads endure testing for mechanical match, electrical integration, software program compatibility, and flight efficiency. This course of is designed to make sure that new capabilities could be deployed reliably throughout current programs.
Basis for Future Growth
Each firms point out that the partnership will prolong past present capabilities. Ongoing improvement efforts embrace autonomous navigation and expanded sensor fusion throughout further CBRN detection applied sciences.
The mixing highlights a rising concentrate on programs that mix mapping, detection, and real-time knowledge right into a single operational workflow. For public security and protection customers, this strategy could scale back the necessity for a number of separate instruments in complicated environments.
The built-in programs are on show at Teledyne FLIR Protection sales space #1724 at Trendy Day Marine 2026, held April 28–30 at Marine Corps Base Quantico.
Learn extra:
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, knowledgeable drone providers market, and a fascinated observer of the rising drone trade and the regulatory atmosphere for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles centered on the industrial drone area and is a global speaker and acknowledged determine within the trade. Miriam has a level from the College of Chicago and over 20 years of expertise in excessive tech gross sales and advertising for brand new applied sciences.
For drone trade consulting or writing, E-mail Miriam.
TWITTER:@spaldingbarker
Subscribe to DroneLife right here.
